Halloween I did not check on my snakes. My wife went to the doctor on Friday and told her we might be having our baby this weekend. So, my normal chores got put on hold. It is now Sunday evening and my wife is still in pre-labor. She is well but uncomfortable.
I go out to the snake house out back to see if there is any action going on out there. First clue something is off is that the door is ajar. I go inside and notice a spray bottle and hook on the floor. Something is up. I quickly scan the room, all the tubs are pushed in, glass front cages are closed and locks are in place. What is going on? Did the dog grow thumbs in the night and let itself in? I run through all the cages for a head count just to be sure. The last cage I check is the bottom Freedom Breeder unit. In it are a proven tiger het female and an 07 suntiger het male that I hope is getting in the mood. Or so I thought...I looked in the cage, obviously a large female is hard to miss. I thought the male may be coiled up within her coils, but I just couldn't see him. I pulled the cage out and a lump developed in my throat. He was not in there!
The back corner of the cage had been pushed out of place (See pic) and the male was gone. Immediately thought of the door being ajar made my stomach turn. Then, to snake hunter mode. I followed the trail of misplace items from the back of the cage, around and over a couple rack systems, across the windowsill, across the counter, behind the computer and ACROSS THE TOP OF THE DOORKNOB, which opened the door, to the shelves on the other side. He made a lap around the outside of the room and I found him tucked in on top of the vent of a Vision 632 (second pic). After a quick thank God, I fished him out and rearranged the housing to make sure everyone is secure.
I guess I need to add one more layer of security to my system. I thought locked cages in a locked shed was enough. The windows were closed and the door was locked from the outside. The next step is going to be add a lock to the doors that can only be opened from the outside. After all the years this was a new one for me. What a way to learn a lesson.
So now that everything turned out alright I am thankful that the snake house is comfortable enough that the male wanted to hang around. Now I am going to do something relaxing, like have a baby.
Good luck to everyone this season,
josh

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• Day after Halloween scare-long post - ender, Mon Nov 2 01:06:13 2009